Galations 3
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
[sup]15[/sup] Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. [sup]16[/sup] Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,”who is Christ. [sup]17[/sup] And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ,[sup][j][/sup] that it should make the promise of no effect. [sup]18[/sup] For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
The bible is written by men, inspired by God....
[2 Timothy 3:16]
The same God who sent us [believers] the helper, the Holy Spirit
[John 14:15-18, 26] We do not need to understand Judaism to correctly interpret the bible...
1 John 2
24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
Some scholars believe that the veil that lies over the hearts of the Jews when the Torah is read...is unbelief, others believe that it was spiritual blindness to the truth which is Jesus the coming [and is come] Messiah.
Judaic Jews believe that being born again - mean't turning from idols and idolatry to Judaism, observing Biblical Feasts and Festivals and observing the sabbath.
That is not what Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about...[John 3:1-21]
You do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that is why you say that...
1 John 2:23
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
G4102 pistis - faith
From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
The word "works" Paul speaks about in Romans 10, is action accompanying faith, not works by earning something that has been freely given....James says...
James 2
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works [G2041].” Show me your faith without your works [G2041], and I will show you my faith by my works [G2041]. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works [G2041] is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works [G2041] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works[G2041] and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
G2041 ergon
From ergō (a primary but obsolete word; to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication an act: - deed, doing, labour, work.
The word "works" used in this verse is an action. This action is accompanied by faith.
If even the demons believe and shudder...then belief is not enough without the action that accompanies it...
When we first believed the word that was given to us about Jesus, we acted upon that belief by confessing that he truly is who he says he is [our Lord and savior...and that God had raised him from the dead] bible says that, by believing [faith] and acting upon that faith [works] we shall be saved.
This verse is corresponds with Romans 10 and speaks to all believers....
Romans 10
. 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth [acting upon your belief] the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart [faith] that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness [faith], and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [acting upon your belief]. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Christian believers do not need to study those who are under the Law to find out about the truth of the word...They just need to read the word for themselves and the Holy Spirit will teach them the truth...:)
Shalom!
Wow! That's a long post. I will retire by the time I answer all these :-)
1. Here is a little note written by Shmuel Playfair:
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Many Christians teach that the "followers of Judaism" preach "salvation by works" (without relying on God's grace). Here is a story to illustrate what Jews really believe regarding the relationship between God's grace and our good works:
"The Winter Coat"
In the 18th century, Rabbi Yaakov Ben Z'ev Kranz, known as the "Maggid"(preacher) of Dubno used to tell this story: A poor man desperately needed a winter coat. He went to a major avenue and stood on a street corner begging for days until he had collected enough money. At the coat store he took the shopkeeper aside and explained how poor he was. He tried his best to convince the shopkeeper to give him a coat free of charge. The store owner took pity on him and gave him the coat. To the shopkeeper's surprise, the poor man handed him a handful of money -- all the money he had collected. After the poor man left the store, his daughter said to him, "Father, why did you ask for the coat for free, if you meant to pay?" The poor man said, "I was afraid I still wouldn't have enough. As long as I knew the shopkeeper was kind enough to give me the coat for nothing, I knew any money I could give him would be acceptable." The "Maggid" said: This is why we do not approach G-d on the Day of Judgement announcing our good deeds -- for who has done enough good deeds to pay for all the mercy that G-d has already shown us? We can offer nothing, but we can hope and pray for His charity (Hesed = grace) and that He will give us His blessings for nothing. Only then do we offer him what little we have, and hope that it will be acceptable to Him.
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Hope this clarifies a few things.
2. Let's say, there is an old Hungarian writing set sometime in the last century. Someone translates it into English and you read it. It will make a lot of sense to you, but you forget that your understanding of it is influenced by your own modern Angle-Saxon culture. You read that book through the glasses of your culture. And it will make a lot of sense.
However, if you want to truly understand it, you need to understand how Hungarians think, but beyond that you need to also understand the culture of the day it was written about. You will not get the full value of the book without it. First of all, you read a translation, and translations are always a trade-off. Nuances of words get lost. It is utterly impossible to translate Hungarian writings into English without loosing a lot of its meaning. So there is only one way to truly enjoy Hungarian literature, and that is, by learning the language.
You are talking about the Spirit enlightening you, but you forget the eschatology. The Spirit belongs to the immediate time before the Kingdom. Read Peter's message on the day of Pentecost. And you have the little flames sitting on the head of the disciples... fire from heaven... everyone is frightened... they want to be saved. He quotes Joel and says,
Acts 2
16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘
In the last days it will be, God declares, that
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Once Jerusalem was destroyed and the Kingdom didn't come, the Spirit was no longer given. It belongs to a very specific time period shortly before the Kingdom. So no, the Spirit will not help you to understand these Jewish writings by reading English translations that are often theologically biased. You need to put in hard work to understand the scriptures as the writers intended it.
That verse about calling on the name of the Lord is also misused. It is clear from Joel what you had to be saved from. The wrath of God that was to come upon the world. Not from hell.
3. Now onto Jacob (I don't understand why English bibles translate his name as James). Since you don't understand the Torah let me explain a few things. The Torah is not "law", but "instruction". It is about how to live right. It has precepts about what not to do, and if you followed them you were not
bad. But to be
good you had to also follow those instructions that were positive. These are about doing charity. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, etc. These are the good works that Jacob is talking about.
Your life of faith is dead without the good works because you cannot be called faithful while ignoring the positive commands of the Torah.
4. Denying the son... denying the Father...
In what way do you deny them? Why do you think the implication is that one must accept the deity of Jesus?
If Caesar sent his emissary with full authority to a country, they had a choice. They either rejected him, and thereby insulted Caesar, or complied. Accepting his emissary meant accepting Caesar, while rejecting his emissary meant rejecting Caesar. The same is true in regards to the verse you quoted.
5. Faith of Abraham... Abraham believed God. The Hebrew term "believed" is the same as putting down the poles into the ground when you setup the tent. It carries the meaning that he was firm in God, unwavering. That means something for your life, for that tent had to stand. Yet, Abraham's story shows how to get into the covenant. The Torah shows you how to conduct yourself in it.
Hope this helps :-)
I am not Jewish, but....
Shalom